Sept. 27, 2014
ARLINGTON, Texas(AP)--Kenny Hill and No. 6 Texas A&M provided quite a late thrill.
Hill threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns, including a 25-yarder to Malcome Kennedy on the first play of overtime, and the undefeated Aggies rallied to beat Arkansas 35-28 on Saturday.
Johnny Manziel, Hill's predecessor, was on hand with the NFL's Cleveland Browns on a bye week, and the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner got to see his Aggies improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2001.
Arkansas (3-2, 0-2), the only unranked team in the SEC West, has lost 14 consecutive Southeastern Conference games since 2012.
The Aggies (5-0, 2-0) trailed 28-14 before Hill threw two long scoring passes in the fourth quarter -- 86 yards to Edward Pope and 59 yards to Josh Reynolds, the later with 2:08 left only two plays after Arkansas missed a field goal.
After Hill's quick strike in overtime, Arkansas faced fourth-and-1 when a handoff went to Alex Collins, who finished with 131 yards rushing. But Collins was stuffed at the line by defensive end Julien Obioha.
Texas A&M had a chance to end the game in regulation, getting the ball back with 1:18 left and no timeouts. The Aggies got a quick first down on Kennedy's 13-yard catch, but let the clock run out while facing fourth-and-13 short of midfield -- and Kennedy got the big catch in overtime.
Hill completed 21 of 41 passes, with an interception in the fourth quarter that did not hurt the Aggies in the end. Pope finished with four catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
Pope's first TD was a leaping 8-yarder in the back of the end zone in the second quarter that tied it at 14.
On the 86-yarder with 11:59 left in regulation, defensive back Jared Collins fell down and left Pope running alone.
The Razorbacks failed to capitalize on Carroll Washington's interception, and the teams traded punts before Arkansas' John Henson was wide left on a 44-yard field goal attempt with 2:29 left.
Australian punter Sam Irwin-Hill ran 51 yards for a tiebreaking touchdown on a fake punt, andBrandon Allen turned a fake handoff into an easy scoring pass for the Razorbacks, who haven't beaten an SEC opponent since a 49-7 win over Kentucky on Oct. 13, 2012.
Allen was 15-of-27 passing for 199 yards, including his 44-yard TD to wide-open AJ Derby after the quarterback faked a handoff, and then briefly held the ball to his side before throwing downfield for a 28-14 lead with 5 minutes left in the third.
The big run by Irwin-Hill put the Razorbacks up 21-14 at halftime. On fourth-and-10 just short of midfield, he took the snap and swept left to a wide-open part of the field. Several teammates caught up and ran with him to the end zone, and it appeared that only one Texas A&M player even got a hand on Irwin-Hill.
ABOUT THE WIN...
•The Aggies improved to 5-0 (2-0 SEC). The win marked the first 5-0 start for A&M since the 2001 season, head coach Kevin Sumlin was the Texas A&M staff on the R.C. Slocum’s staff in 2001.
•It was the 60th win of Sumlin’s head coaching career.
•Texas A&M improved to 13-2 in games away from Kyle Field under head coach Kevin Sumlin (since 2012).
•A&M improved to 2-4 in games at AT&T Stadium.
•The Aggies rallied from a 14-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to force overtime. It was the largest comeback since a 21-point rally against Duke in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
RANDOMS ...
•The 86-yard touchdown catch by sophomore WR Edward Pope from sophomore QB Kenny Hill was the eighth-longest pass play in school history. It was the longest pass play by the Aggies since QB Johnny Manziel and WR Mike Evans connected on a 95-yarder vs. Alabama in 2013.
•The 86-yard catch highlighted a career-best day from Pope, who reeled in career highs of two touchdowns and 151 receiving yards (on four catches). His 151 yards surpassed the previous individual season high of 137 by Malcome Kennedy in the season-opener vs. South Carolina.
•When Arkansas took a 14-7 leads at the 9:06 mark of the first quarter, it marked the first time that A&M had trailed at any point in a game since the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl against Duke.
•The Aggies improved to 2-4 in games when they trailed at halftime, and after three quarters. In the other comeback victory, the Aggies rallied from 21 points down against Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
•Texas A&M scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, while shutting out the Razorbacks in the final stanza. It continued a season-long trend for the Aggies who have out-scored their opponents 62-3 in the fourth quarter.
•The Aggies came into the game ranked in the top 10 nationally in quarterback sacks, but were held without a sack for the first time this season.
STARTING LINEUP NOTES ….
•True freshman DE Myles Garrett earned the first start of his career. He is the fifth true freshman to earn a start in 2014.
•Returning to the starting lineup after missing the SMU game was true freshman WR Speedy Noil.
•Junior CB De’Vante Harris earned his first start of the season after seeing his first action of the season last week (He missed the first three games due to a fall camp injury). It was the 19th start of his career.
•Senior DT Ivan Robinson, who missed last week’s game, saw his first start of 2014 (sixth of his career).
•Junior OC Mike Matthews earned his first start since the Lamar game. He missed the Rice game and played sparingly last week vs. SMU.
•Starting SLB Donnie Baggs made his first start of the season. The Aggies had started the four previous games in nickel.
20TH OPENING SERIES TD....
•After winning the toss and taking the ball, as is their custom, the Aggies made quick work of their opening offensive series with a touchdown in just 1:05 (4 plays, 49 yards). The touchdown was the 20th of the Kevin Sumlin era on first half opening series (31 games), and it was the 21st time A&M has scored on the opening drive.
•The Razorbacks returned the favor with an opening series TD of their own. It was the first score given up by the Aggies on the opening series of either half this season.
•The Aggies have scored first in 28 of 31 games under Sumlin.
The last time...UNTIL TODAY
•Kenny Hill (386) had a 300+ passing yards. The most recent 300 yard passer was Kenny Hill against Rice on Sept. 13
•Josh Reynolds’ 59 yard touchdown reception followed Edward Pope’s 86 yard touchdown reception. The most recent 50-yard+ reception was Josh Reynolds (70 yards) last week against SMU (9/20)
•Kenny Hill’s 41 attempts marked the first time an A&M passer reached 40 attempts since the season opener against South Carolina (August 28)
•Kenny Hill’s four touchdown passes was the third game this season with four touchdowns or more (Lamar, Rice, Arkansas) for the A&M sophomore.
•Pope’s 100+ yard day was the first for an A&M receiver since the season-opener against South Carolina (August 28)
DEFENSIVE NOTES …
•Senior cornerback Deshazor Everett led the game with a career-high 16 tackles (7 solo, 9 assisted) including 1.5 tackles for loss. The previous high for an A&M defender this season was Howard Matthews (14) against Rice.
•Sophomore LB Shaan Washington had the second fumble recovery of his career when he fell on a loose ball in first quarter.
GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN
•Game captains were seniors Deshazor Everett and Malcome Kennedy and juniors Julien Obioha and Drew Kaser. The Aggies won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
•Junior Sam Moeller was the Aggies’ 12th Man for the 18th straight game.
AGGIES IN OVERTIME
•Texas A&M improved to 8-6 all-time in overtime and 3-3 away from Kyle Field.
•Today’s ovetime win was the first away from Kyle Field since 2006 against Oklahom State (34-33, 1OT)
QUOTES...
Texas A&M
COACH KEVIN SUMLIN: What a heck of a game. Like I said after the game, I'm extremely proud of the effort of our older guys. I think a lot of our ‑‑ we get categorized as a young football team with a quarterback that's young, but our older guys led us. They were in and out of a real football game, a physical game. Deshazor Everett leaves the game with shoulder, ends up making critical plays at the end.
Howard Matthews, same thing. Guys went back in the game.
And Malcolm Kennedy, I thought he was done. As a matter of fact, they said he was done, and I look up and he goes just running right back out on the field and catches a winning touchdown.
So, you know, those guys kind of epitomize what today's effort was about, and that's the kind of senior leadership that it's going to take in a league like this because it was a very, very physical football game.
You know, we made enough plays at the end to win.
Q. What did you learn about your defense today, particularly in the second half and in overtime?
COACH SUMLIN: Well, you know, I think when you're done 14 with, I don't know, what, 8 minutes to go in the game, in order to win a game like that, it takes a complete team. And, you know, we ‑‑ every phase had their poor moments in the first half. Offensively, we were a beat off; defensively, we gave up some big plays; and then special teams, we gave up the fake.
But I tell you, the talk at halftime was extremely positive from our team. There wasn't a lot of panic. There wasn't a lot of finger‑pointing. Coaches did a great job of keeping guys calm.
And I think as coaches, you can see that sometimes. But as players, there was a confidence during the game. And I think that showed at the end, just how the older guys ‑‑ that's what I get back to. The older guys are guys that have been through things like that. We have a bunch of young guys out there that were a little wide‑eyed, but the older guys kind of calmed everybody down. There was a lot of positive talk.
We need that. We need to win a game like that, particularly in the fashion that we did at the end with our defense having to stop them, not just in overtime, but the last couple series.
Q. You and some of his teammates have always described Kenny as a guy that doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. But he said earlier he was a little high and low in this game.
Did you notice him be more emotional than usual? And what does it say, to go along with that, that he was able to battle through whatever it was and still came out and make big plays late?
COACH SUMLIN: This game is good for us as a team; it's also good for him. It's the first time this year we've really been in that situation. We were off a little bit. Things here, there; we turned it over. But to come through and play the way he did at the end of the game is a big confidence boost for him. Not that he needs it. He is a pretty confident guy. But for our team, too.
I looked over there right before the overtime, and all the receivers got together and put their hands in there. They believe in themselves, and the team believes in themselves.
So I think it is a confidence boost for a lot of different people. And there's a lot of things we can learn from. Arkansas is ‑‑ I said before the week, you know, that's a good football team, and they're vastly improved from a year ago.
We knew it would be a heck of a game. And, you know, from a confidence standpoint, across the board, I think there's things that we can draw from this week. But there's certainly a lot of things that we have got to clean up, and there's a lot of examples in this game that, hey, yeah, we won the game, but we got to get better. We got to eliminate penalties. Far too many penalties today. Turned it over.
But, you know, we made enough plays at the end to win.
Q. You mentioned a while ago that you felt the offense was just a beat off. Is that ‑‑ did you feel that was because of what Arkansas was doing on defense? Were they dropping more guys in the coverage? Or was that Kenny just being off a little bit?
COACH SUMLIN: No, it's a little bit of everything. We had penalties put us behind the chains, put us in some long yardage situations.
They did a good job, defensively, giving us ‑‑ mixing it up early with some two‑deep looks and then changing to man‑to‑man, not letting us get behind them early in the game. And we had some success running the ball early because of those looks.
And then, you know, you get behind and the clock becomes a factor in the run game. So I thought we did a nice job in the second ‑‑ really, in the fourth quarter of finding something and mixing it up with the clock the way it was.
But, yeah, I mean, like I said before, if we don't score right away or every time, everybody thinks we're not playing well. So, you know, they got defense ‑‑ a defense and coaches, too. So we're going to be in games like that. I think the key is that you have to have a personality as a football team that allows yourself to think that you're going to win.
And I think our offense lends itself to that. We're never out of the game. I think it helps our defense. It helps everybody's confidence. And we made enough plays ‑‑ I keep saying it ‑‑ at the end to win.
Was it perfect? No. But it was a heck of a football game. And, you know, there's a lot of things we can learn from today.
Q. A lot was talked about the size of Arkansas' offensive line. How would you describe that your defensive line dealt with that and did you guys make any changes in the second half?
COACH SUMLIN: Yeah. I mean, we just ‑‑ the way they play, I mean, they're huge. And the backs are really, really good. I thought Jim Cheney had an excellent plan. They formationed and got us in some different situations to create some real problems, some gaps. And then they went unbalanced a lot.
It's a nightmare for what they do. They just don't just line up and run over you. They formation you, unbalance, tight ends, motion. And all that time, when you're doing that, you know, you have to fit the gaps properly. And all it takes is one guy to be out of one gap, and ‑‑ those backs are good.
So they had a great plan. I said early in the week, I thought the difference in their team right now is Brandon Allen. I think he made some throws early in this game that were right on the money in tight coverage. And then, you know, because we started loading it up, we cut some guys loose in play‑action deals.
They create a lot of problems for you defensively. But I can't ‑‑ I think our depth helped us. Were we perfect? No. But we were better, and we got some critical stops at the end, enough to get us the ball back and give us a chance to win.
Q. Coach, at the end of the game, watching some your players coming off the field, I saw that looks on their faces that they had been through a war. They lagged a little. They went through 60 minutes of war with another team.
What does that do for your team? How does it build on that? And how do the upperclassmen help the younger kids that had that wide‑eyed look you were talking about, you know, going through 60 minutes of that?
COACH SUMLIN: Yeah, it was a heck of a game. Like I said before, I think a lot is said about our young guys, the talented guys. But you look at the critical plays at the end of the game, they were the old guys that had been taken or carted off the field a couple time. Like I said, I use those three guys as examples.
Howard Matthews makes a hit over there on the sideline on a tight end, which was a critical play, given in the fourth quarter. Deshazor is making critical plays. And, of course, Malcolm Kennedy.
Those are guys that have played a lot of football here and have been in a lot of these types of situations and really led us.
In a game like that, it gets down to the end. You got to make plays. And people are there; and, fortunately, we've got a good blend of those older guys that didn't panic and were steady.
And I think it's not just how they were playing, but it's also the conversations on the sideline that were pretty even keel, not chewing each other out, just saying, hey, look, here's what we got to do. Let's just keep playing.
That, to me, is something that we didn't have last year. And I think that's something that we can build on from here on out.
Q. Coach, this kind of piggybacks on a question a little bit ago, but how impressed were you with your front seven, especially down the stretch?
COACH SUMLIN: Down the stretch ‑‑ you know, we had our issues early. Shoot, what are they? Second or third highest scoring team in the country. They're good at what they do. And our guys just kept going. We didn't fit some gaps sometimes. We were rotating linebackers in and out of there.
Jordan came into the game with that ankle, played through it.
Shaan Washington, again, has made his presence felt. I think he really helps us as a difference maker in there.
So, you know, the rotation up front and allowing us to get ‑‑ getting Ivan back was big in there and being able to rotate those guys and try to get them the third‑down situations and get some REM pass rushes going.
That was the difficult part in the first half. We couldn't ‑‑ whether it was third and short or getting behind the change penalty‑wise, giving them short feels or short yardage, we couldn't get our young guys going.
Myles and Daeshon and Dayday (phonetic) but they are more pass‑rush guys than they are these types of guys, and they turn that game into that.
So I think the rotation of the front's good. We just got to keep getting better. And there's a lot of things from this game that we can learn from. But there's also, like I said, some confidence that we can draw from it, because that team's good at what they do running the football.
Q. We don't talk about Ed Pope enough, I don't think. Four catches, 151 yards, and two touchdowns. How good of a football player is Ed Pope? And then talk about that 86‑yard catch and how that kind of got you guys off the mat.
COACH SUMLIN: People have kind of forgotten about him. He was a high school all‑American as a free safety at Carthage. He was one of the few guys that we redshirted with that class. So he is a guy that just keeps popping up. I think he has made big plays every week, starting at South Carolina with a touchdown.
A lot of those other guys get a lot of credit, you know, Speedy and Ricky and Malcolm. But Ed Pope just seems to keep on playing. He's a tough guy. He doesn't look very tough. What is he? About 155 pounds or something like that. We gave him a hard time. But he loves to play. He's got a lot of courage and a lot of toughness.
Like I said, he's really come a long ways from a guy who was one of the few red shirts that we had to a guy that's now playing big in big ball games.
Q. First of all, Malcome, congratulations on the win. Your defense had to make three key stops for you guys to get back in the game. Can you talk about that?
MALCOME KENNEDY: Man, it was great watching those guys play. We knew before the game a lot of people had, you know, kind of slanted them and kind of said how they wouldn't play and things that would happen to them. Man, those guys played so great tonight. They pushed us.
We went out there and, as the offense, we didn't play the best game. But they kept having our backs. We feed off each other and they kept making stops. And we just owed it to them to come out and score.
Q. Can you take us through the play call in the overtime touchdown for an offense that hadn't really been clicking necessarily the whole game? And how did you guys kind of withstand all the ups and downs of this game as well?
MALCOME KENNEDY: You know, Coach Babb called that play numerous times throughout the course of the game. And one time it was open. I got a hand on it, couldn't really reel it in. A few other times they covered it well and had me bracket it. I don't know why it worked that particular time. Kenny was patient in the pocket. I saw him. He looked me down. I wasn't sure if anybody was behind me, but I caught it. Looked up field and just ran in.
You know, throughout the game on offense, I feel like they just progressed. We got better. We had a few drops. Coach Babb just coached us through it and everybody was positive.
Q. What is it about Kenny? He started really poor. It almost started like it wasn't his night, but he kept fighting. Certainly, the numbers and the moment show that it was his day.
MALCOME KENNEDY: As the offense, that's just how we work. We know we can score like that. We know it is gasoline to a fire. We can explode just like that. So we were just waiting for that moment. We were confident in ourselves. We practice this. We do this. We have been doing this for three years. Throughout the game, I was just thinking about last year's Chick‑fil‑A Bowl, how we came back and made a great win and everybody stayed positive, and we eventually woke up.
Kenny kept his poise like always. I never seen him walking around with his head down. He didn't sulked. He never pointed fingers at anybody. If anything, he was like, my fault, my bad. That's what a leader has to do. Johnny was down there with Kenny talking him through everybody. And Coach Babb was down there. We are all in this corner. He knew we would wake up and start playing like we were supposed to.
Q. A lot of times folks will say great teams don't play great, but they're able to get the wins even when they're playing poorly.
Would you stay that about y'all's performance today?
MALCOME KENNEDY: Yes, I would, because, Arkansas, first of all, they were a great team. We knew it would be a smash mouth game. We knew what kind of game it would be. We didn't play our best game. But we trained all summer. We trained all year. Coach Jackson trained us for moments like this. Coach Sumlin told us what type of game it would be. We knew they would run some misdirections. They got us on a few of them. But we came out and we persevered.
Q. Take us through the defensive effort throughout the fourth quarter and then, of course, the overtime; and then if you could, second to that, specifically talk about the play on the fourth down that you made.
JULIAN OBIOHA: You know, we didn't really change up our game plan. We know we were giving up ‑‑ first half we gave up some plays we shouldn't have. When we got to the second half, we started making adjustments. When we got to the fourth quarter, we were just rolling. We had so many stops. It was great week of preparation.
And the last play was I wouldn't do anything different. The running back bounced to my side. I did what my coaches taught me to do. I cross‑face and made a play. It was a play that ended the game and gave us a W. It was just a great play.
Q. I was going to ask you about that too. Arkansas, they were, I guess, doing a lot of misdirection and running away from the strong side of the formation.
Can you talk about how y'all eventually figured that out?
JULIAN OBIOHA: It was by eye control. Coach talks about eye control. Keep your eye on the key. There are a couple times when you saw in the big plays where nobody was covering a guy. Somebody took their eyes off their key.
Once we fixed that problem, everybody was on the same page. Everybody was doing their job. You saw what we can do out there. We could stop one of the best rushing attacks in the country when we're all on the same page.
Q. Julian, the way last that year went in the early part of the season, offense is always the conversation. Personally, for you, how does it feel for the defense to really be the story of this game?
JULIAN OBIOHA: It is a team. Coach Sumlin said there is three parts of the team: Special teams, defense, and offense. The coaches say it all the time. When one of your buddies is sick or somebody in your family is sick, it is the job of everybody else in the family to keep that person up, you know.
There's times when we didn't have ‑‑ we, as a defense, didn't have a good game; the offense carried us; where the special teams wasn't really doing that good, and defense and offense carried special teams. And there is times when our great offense isn't going to do as good as we expect them to do and defense and special teams has to carry them.
We are a team. Whenever somebody is down, the other parts of the team has to pick them up.
Q. A lot of people has questioned y'all's schedule. Do you feel like the three cupcakes that y'all played, you were not quite as sharp for part of this game and this to get your legs under you?
JULIAN OBIOHA: Arkansas is a great rushing attack. Arkansas is going to rush for a lot of yards against a lot of teams. Once we were all on the same page, it didn't really matter. We prep the same for Alabama as we do for Lamar University. That might be hard for people to understand, but we prep the same. You know what I mean? So when the bullets started flying, we were resilient and held in there.
Q. Kenny, we saw you show some emotion there early towards the other bench. Did maybe that help motivate you? What flipped the switch for you in the offense?
KENNY HILL: Shoot. I think we came ‑‑ we came into halftime. We knew we needed to make some more plays. And we just kind of came together as a group at halftime, knowing we had to turn it up. I mean, I think that's when it really happened.
Q. What was it like to make the big play? You get the win, but you certainly weren't at your best today but you kept coming back trying to make plays. Take us through. What was the game like for you mentally and to be able to come through at the end and win anyway?
KENNY HILL: It was tough kind of mentally because we faced a little adversity that we hadn't faced yet. I thought we responded well.
The game for me, I mean, it was up and down and up and down the whole time. I mean, I just ‑‑ I need to make that a little bit better, just be one level the whole time.
Q. Kenny, I assume that pass ‑‑ the game‑winning pass was the same route that y'all ran early in the game, kind of just threw behind Malcolm.
First, how open did he look on that last pass? And I know it's happening in a flash, but do you have time to think about what did you have to do to make sure he gets the ball that time?
KENNY HILL: Just saw him running wide open and said I need to put it on him. He was actually, I feel like, more open the first time than that time. I mean, we just made that connection on that one. I mean, it was big time. They had the defender getting there late and I got to fit it in there to him and he took care of the rest.
Q. Kenny, was Johnny talking to you during the game? If so, what was he saying?
KENNY HILL: He came around and talked a couple times. He talked right before half and just ‑‑ he said ‑‑ he was just trying to get us pumped. He came in at the end and was doing the same thing and telling me I got ‑‑ like, "You got this. You got this. Go lead this team down there."
And then right after the game, he was just saying, "Great game. Love you, bro," all that kind of thing.
Q. What did you‑all prove today as a team?
KENNY HILL: That we can compete with people in the SEC. I mean, we didn't play our best today. But, I mean, we still competed and came out with a win. I mean, shoot, for me, I think ‑‑ I think that just shows us, more than anything, like, we can come back from a deficit like that and we can still come out with a win. We just got to keep fighting.
Q. What was Coach Sumlin's message to you guys at halftime?
KENNY HILL: That we're fine. We're doing everything fine. Defense is playing well. Offense, we just had to ‑‑ we just had to make a couple more plays. I mean, we were executing for the most part. We just had a couple miscues here and there. But, I mean, yeah, he was just kind of like, "Y'all just keep doing what you are doing. Just execute a little bit more."
Q. Mike, what was their interior defensive line doing early? I mean, they are undersized but really athletic and kind of making plays in the backfield. What did you guys into with the interior line to make those adjustments?
MIKE MATTHEWS: They came out and started the game with high energy. They were exploding off the ball, and they were twisting us pretty good. We just had make a few adjustments on the sideline. Coach Harrison got us riding toward the end of this game, and we started picking up a lot better.
Q. What did the touchdown pass to Ed Pope, the second one, the 86‑yard one, what did that do for you all ‑‑ y'all were struggling at that time. What did you that do for you mentally on the sideline?
MIKE MATTHEWS: We always knew that we had a chance to come back in the game. But that was kind of like the kick start. That was the touchdown that we needed, kind of bring the momentum back on our side. We were stalling out every drive. And he made a big play and kind of just brought a lot of energy back to the sideline. Momentum kind of switched over to our way, and the rest is history.
Q. Mike, you guys had the ball a lot the last couple minutes of the game. Obviously, you had it to start overtime. Could you guys kind of feel that they were pretty much shot and the ball game was yours if you could take?
MIKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, it's weird. The defense just kept on stopping them. There were the few drives that we stalled out and we didn't put points on the board when we really needed to. But as the game kept going on to the final crunch minutes, the defense kept on stopping them; we kept getting the ball back; we just knew. In the back of our heads, we knew we're very capable of putting points on the board, and we just had the confidence behind us.
Q. Mike, can you talk about where you guys go from here, the momentum that you're going to take into Starkville after a win like this?
MIKE MATTHEWS: We got comeback. We will celebrate this, but, you know, once it starts next week, it's time for us to start focusing on Mississippi State. And we just got to turn the page. And we are going to take this season one game at a time. And we are going to celebrate this one right here, but after ‑‑ once Monday comes around, it's time to start focusing on the next game.
Q. Justin, when the punter made that run and that fake run, did it kind of deflate y'all just a little bit? What went through your mind to recover from that?
JUSTIN BASS: Just got to bounce back from the next play. You can only control what you control. Since I'm on defense, you just got to bounce back. That's about it.
Q. Justin, Julian was asked this question earlier. So much is made of the Aggie offense, but whenever it really came down to the crunch time, you guys performed pretty well in the second half.
What is your feelings of the defense's performance today as a whole?
JUSTIN BASS: Pleased. Obviously, there's still stuff we need to work on, just being smart as a defense. But overall, since we got the win, we are always pleased with that. We just take this with a grain of salt and know there's still stuff we need to work on and get better at it.
Q. Justin, the way Arkansas likes to run the ball, as physical as they are, how sorry would you be if you had to play them every week?
JUSTIN BASS: It is definitely a task to play against a big, physical team like that. But, obviously, we're in the SEC, so we're going to play a team like that every week, and you just got to bounce back and just prepare for the next one.
Q. What were the biggest problems that Arkansas' run game gave you? What were the biggest issues you guys had in trying to stop it?
JUSTIN BASS: I guess as a team we always focus on us. So it's not really what they're doing; it's more what we're doing. And I don't think we were staying in our gaps enough. It's just being smart on defense and know what you're supposed to do and executing. So ...
Q. Was there any point when you felt the momentum kind of shift from them to y'all?
JUSTIN BASS: I guess just after getting that stop on third down when we were on, like, the 30 or something, like, in the fourth quarter, around 2:00. Right there. We were like, all right, we need to, I guess, pick it back up.
Arkansas
THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by Coach Bielema. Coach, we'll all call on you first for an opening comment and then ask questions.
COACH BRET BIELEMA: Absolutely. Firstly, give credit to A&M. Obviously, the fourth quarter, they'll remember for them and one for us as well. I think the good news about today is I'm giving all the credit to A&M. They did it. But a lot of things that caused us to lose this game today came from within our own locker room. Not getting down on my guys. You know, a certain part of our process to get to where we need to be. I think we made a lot of positive steps forward. But we talk all the time, our third edge we talk about is playing clean. And that means playing penalty free. Don't put yourself in a position to beat yourself by what you're doing. And we can't win with eight penalties. I know that. But the good news is we can correct those things, and I thought our guys did several things throughout the course of the game to get excited about. But obviously, not enough to close it.
Just about this experience, this is absolutely awesome. Thank Jerry Jones and Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl, and this is a great environment. Very, very excited to play out the length of this contract here and hopefully for many more after that, just to get a chance to be here and be part of it and get ourselves in the win column moving forward. But a great environment that we'll be able to remember for a while.
So we got Ivan, I think, the injury. We had Henre Toliver, just got scratched in the eyeball early in the first half and wasn't able to return after that. But other than that, we got guys back. Demetrius Wilson hasn't really been able to practice with us. He was kind of iffy for the game. Just didn't feel he was quite ready to go this weekend. So kind of held him out and didn't get many routes, but everyone else did pretty good.
With that, I'll open you up for questions.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
Q. Bret, I'm going to specify, you were talking about "can't beat yourself." So can you speak to how critical the tripping call was when you got to the 1. And secondly, the mid range, 40‑something yard field goal is probably in the back of your mind, you've been wondering how well y'all could do there today.
COACH BIELEMA: Yeah. First, we had a tripping call on that play. It was the back side of a play. So obviously did something we can't do. We talk all the time about earning everything. We earned the penalty. And that took a potential scoring play off the board for us. We'll move forward. I love the ability to correct that more than anything. That's something easily corrected. And I felt really good about hitting at John ‑‑ John felt really good about that left hash. We were lining up to see if we had a certain look to try to run a fake on that play. But they had it covered down. So that's why we took the timeout and elected to kick the field goal. And, obviously, pushed it a little bit to our left or pulled it a little to our left.
Q. Bret, the defense have played so well for so long, and then the big ‑‑ their big pass plays. What do you think happened in the fourth quarter?
COACH BIELEMA: Well, I think on the very first one, they got over top of us, they got on top of us and did a nice job of executing. On the overtime play, they did a little player bubble and just ‑‑ our guys' eyes weren't in the right spot. Two deep balls, actually three deep balls that I know today. And, when I turned around and saw the play develop and our eyes were in the wrong spot. We constantly talk on defense that your eyes will tell you everything you need to know. But, if your eyes are in the wrong spot and are looking at something you're not supposed to, they turning into lying eyes, and that's exactly what happened on a couple of those key plays. And to be quite honest, the part that's exciting about that is you eradicate those plays by simply keeping your eyes where they need to be and you play a lot of really good football.
Q. Coach, what do you tell a young man that is involved in a big penalty, a game changer like that? Do you talk to him right after the game or on the plane? How do you handle that situation, you don't hold it in?
COACH BIELEMA: Yeah. I let him know on the sideline that you earn everything that you do. And, unfortunately, it's a life lesson he's got to go through. Dan Skipper has done a lot of really positive things for us. He's a kid on and off the field that does a lot of really good things, but there was no need for that there. So it's a life lesson that we've all got to endure. That play didn't lose the game for us, but it's part of the process and I think he'll understand that.
His teammates will understand it. And we'll take it as that, as a learning experience to move forward. And as a head coach, I got to coach him better, to understand that that's just something that doesn't belong in the game, with what we're doing.
Q. Coach, can you explain just what happened offensively in the fourth quarter?
COACH BIELEMA: Yeah. Obviously, didn't ‑‑ we ‑‑ we knew coming into this game that we thought our formula, if we stuck to the plan, first down success leads to second down and third down success. But we're so much more effective on third down conversions in the first half versus that fourth quarter especially. I think the thing that we got to be able to do is stay true to who we are. We've got to be able to effectively run the ball and the play action pass game. They did some minor adjustments. And we adjusted back with that. But we got to be able to execute when the time comes.
Q. The fake punt with Irwin‑Hill, what did you see there and how do you think that played into the flow of the game?
COACH BIELEMA: You know, Sam is a very gifted athlete. We know he can run the ball. To the right, to the left, and point it. So we want to take advantage. They gave us a look that we wanted. After that, they did look to me. And I triggered it. And, obviously, a great job of executing. I didn't know if he was going to get in the end zone over there, but he did a really nice job with that. Good job on some downfield blocks. But, obviously, not enough to win the game.
Q. Bret, what did you think of the defensive play overall? On the last play of the game on the 4th and 1, you guys obviously are a good running team. Did you think about play action in there and just what did you think of A&M's defense on that play?
COACH BIELEMA: Yeah. We obviously called a run. It is what it is and a play we've been pretty successful on and weren't able to execute as far as getting it done, but ‑‑ what's the first part of the question?
Oh, the defense play overall? Our defense, you know, like we knew they're very, very good on offense, we knew that we couldn't give up the big plays, and those are the plays that end up hurting us. We wanted to line up and be in the position before the ball is snapped to have success. I thought for the most part we did that all day. Took advantage of a couple opportunities in the turnovers, but we weren't able to turn those points ‑‑ take those turnovers and generate points off them in the second half. That was really big.
So, again, just a big, big learning experience. If we'd called a pass on that last 4th and 1 and didn't convert it, we would have tried to run it. And I thought Jim called a good game. And we got to be able to execute, but on the same account, that's a learning lesson for all of us.
Q. Coach, I know right now it's probably hard to talk about what kind of progress you made. But you talked about going into the game. You know, you wanted to see how far you'd gone since the Auburn game when you didn't score in the second half, didn't show up for those last two quarters like you wanted to.
So what did you learn today about your team?
COACH BIELEMA: Well, we had a chance to make it a three quarter. And I thought when we weren't able to do that, we could kind of feel that momentum slide. And we told our guys on the sidelines, you've got to stand blow for blow, hit for hit. But we weren't able to persevere and I don't know ‑‑ you know, the Good Lord has got a plan for everybody. And for whatever reason, we weren't able to have the success we wanted to in the end here. But there are a lot of positive steps. But I didn't fly to Dallas to make a positive step. I came here to win, and I think our players did, and to get that close and to not have it, it's a critical week for us. You know, we have a recruiting plan we're going to stay and check with. We got a 3‑day work plan with Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. We've got to get our guys healed up. A lot of broken hearts. The good thing is these hearts can be mended if they're handled the right way and treated the right way. I let our kids know I love them to death, but there's going to some things that they've got to home in to at home to make a positive out of a very negative situation here today.
THE MODERATOR: Have time for just two or three more questions.
Q. Coach, you talked about the team learning from this. What is it that you want them to learn?
COACH BIELEMA: You know, that when you got your foot on somebody's throat, keep it on it. I think we need to have that killer mentality, to put that thing away. To find a way to get it done, whether it's a first down or a scoring drive or a third down stop or an execution in the fourth quarter on a third down call. In a timeout period or ‑‑ in the overtime period, come up with a defensive stop and, on the flip side of it, come up with a first down when we get the ball. We got four downs to do it there and weren't able to do it. So a lot of growth that this team has got out there. The fun thing for us, I think, is I think A&M is a pretty good football team. Some people were talking about them being a positive one of the top four teams, if you had that playoff bowl right now, and we were right there. And you give me another year, we'll look forward to seeing these guys again next year.
Q. Coach, when you saw Jonathan break lose on the play that came back, would you just explain that play and what you thought when you saw him break loose?
COACH BIELEMA: A great call by Jim. A little variation there that we did and an incredible effort by Jay Will I think on that one. I was following the play, so I didn't see the flag and then somebody, I think Dee Lenny said, Coach, there's a flag down. And I just couldn't understand why there would be a flag. It was a perimeter play. I didn't know why there would be a flag on the back side of a play. And obviously, one of the guys upstairs said that there was a trip and it was legit. So a huge teaching moment. Again, something to really take a moment and grow from and I put myself in that same scenario. I mean, as a head coach, you know, you got to take full responsibility for the actions of everybody on that football field. And I got to let them understand and know that that ‑‑ there's just no place for that to be executed and run clean to have an effect on our football team the way it possibly did.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for coach? Last question.
Q. Does this open day come at a good time after, you know, a demoralizing loss, I guess? Just kind of how do you feel about the opening day?
COACH BIELEMA: I think when I looked at the schedule, you know, I, obviously, was aware of who we're playing. And everybody has made light of our schedule and who we face. It's voted by everybody to be the number one toughest schedule in the country. And I'm excited about it. I'm excited today. And just as much at the end of the day as I was at the beginning of today. And the good thing for us, the way it laid out, was a 5 games on, a bye week, it's 4 games on, a bye week, and then 3 weeks on. If we do what we are capable of doing, maybe we'll have a chance to play another game. And the part I get excited about is I told our guys, you invest this week into giving us what you have, everything you got, and I'll take care of you in the bye week. Because it really is laid out as good as we possibly can. It's not like a one week on and one week off. It's 5, bye, 4, bye, 3. You couldn't ask for anything more. So we'll take full advantage of it. And got a good recruiting plan, got a good week's schedule for our players to work, and I'll give them a little bit of a break tomorrow to just regroup and get themselves together. Monday, we'll come back and ‑‑ sorry, Tuesday, we'll come back with our coaches and, you know, put this game behind us and get an opportunity to jump ahead. But, you know, this is a really good time for a bye week and something we got to maximize and, you know, for coaches and players. And probably fans. Fans probably invested a lot in today's game, and I apologize we weren't able to give you the win. But there's a lot of really good things coming. This could be a very exciting time ahead of us.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Coach, thank you very much.